A Victorian glass and iron conservatory from 1895 housing four large greenhouses with palm, fern, orchid, and tropical plant collections. The Conservatory is free to visit and offers a genuinely pleasant half hour, particularly in winter when the contrast between the heated tropical interior and the Chicago cold outside is most dramatic.
The building itself — cast iron columns, ridge-and-furrow roof glazing — is among the finest surviving examples of Victorian greenhouse architecture in the American Midwest. The surrounding formal gardens are redesigned seasonally. Adjacent to the Lincoln Park Zoo; both can be combined in a single visit. Free admission.